Italian Premier Speaks at Bribery Trial

Published 8:00 pm, Sunday, May 4, 2003

Associated Press Writer

Premier Silvio Berlusconi told a Milan court trying him on bribery charges Monday that he had taken a role in a contested business deal only to serve the nation.

The billionaire business mogul is accused of bribing judges in Rome to influence a ruling on the sale of former state-controlled food company SME in the 1980s. Berlusconi said then-Premier Bettino Craxi asked him to get involved because the arranged sale-price was too low.

"I had no direct interest and Craxi begged me to intervene because he believed the operation damaged the state," the premier told a packed courtroom during his 30-minute address.

Craxi was among those who fell from power amid corruption probes a decade ago.

Berlusconi, Italy's richest man, has been involved in several legal cases related to his business dealings. His previous convictions were reversed on appeal or annulled because of the statute of limitations.

Berlusconi has denied any wrongdoing and portrayed himself as the victim of a political vendetta by left-leaning prosecutors.

Berlusconi's co-defendants in the SME case include his former defense minister, Cesare Previti, who was convicted in a bribery case last week and sentenced to 11 years imprisonment.

The premier's allies have criticized European Commission President Romano Prodi for his role in the SME deal. They say Prodi, the former chief of the state-controlled holding company that was selling off SME, agreed to a price that was far too low.

Prodi told Italian reporters in Bologna that he wasn't worried about the accusations. "It's not a trial against me," he said.

The SME hearing came as Berlusconi's government began a strong push for an immunity law.

In a newspaper interview Sunday, a senior Berlusconi party member argued for swift immunity measures to protect the international image of the Italian premier, noting that the country takes over the rotating European Union presidency on July 1.

"It's not the time for lectures, accusations and insinuations," Senate President Marcello Pera said in Sunday's La Repubblica newspaper.

Opposition leader Piero Fassino called the immunity proposal "the umpteenth judicial psychodrama starring the premier and his friends."

"Berlusconi confuses the letter 'm' with the letter 'p' _ in the name of immunity he's seeking impunity," he said.

Italy's politicians previously had immunity from prosecution, but that was revoked in 1993, amid the bribery scandal that uncovered widespread government corruption. Berlusconi argues that repealing immunity opened politicians to politically motivated charges.

Two immunity proposals are being discussed: one that would block trials against the country's top five officials _ the premier, the president, the leaders of both houses of parliament and the chief of the constitutional court; and another that would bring back immunity for the hundreds of sitting members of parliament.

Government members seemed to be pushing for the limited-immunity proposal, noting that the idea was suggested by a member of the opposition. Center-left leaders disavow the proposal.